In U.S. Letters Pat. No. 5,021,059, which has been assigned to the same assignee as this invention, there is disclosed a closure device and method of use for sealing a small incision or puncture in tissue separating one portion of the body of a living being from another portion thereof, e.g., a percutaneous puncture in a artery, to prevent the flow of a body fluid, e.g., blood, through the puncture. The closure device is arranged to be used with (deployed by) an instrument which comprises a carrier in the form of a tubular member. The tubular member has a proximally located portion and a distally located portion. The latter includes an open free end arranged to be introduced through the incision or puncture. The proximately located portion of the tubular member is arranged to be located out of the body of the being when the distally located portion is extended through the incision or puncture.
The closure device comprises three components, namely, an anchor member, a sealing member, and a filament, e.g., suture. The sealing member is formed of a hemostatic material, e.g., compressed collagen foam. The anchor member includes a tissue engaging portion configured to pass through the puncture in one direction but resistant to passage therethrough in the opposite direction. The sealing member includes a tissue engaging portion. The filament is connected between the anchor member and the sealing member in a pulley-like arrangement so that they may be moved relative to each other by the application of a pulling force on the filament.
The instrument is arranged to expel the anchor member through the puncture, e.g., into the artery, and to draw its tissue engaging portion into engagement with the tissue contiguous with the puncture. The filament extends through the instrument to a point outside the body of the being and is arranged to be drawn in the proximal direction, whereupon the portion of the filament connecting the anchor member and the sealing member causes the tissue engaging portion of the sealing member to move with respect to said anchor member and into engagement with the tissue contiguous with the puncture on the opposite side thereof from said anchor member. This action causes the tissue engaging portion of the sealing member to seal the puncture from the flow of fluid therethrough.
The closure device and deploying instrument in that patent leave something to be desired from the standpoints of effectiveness and efficiency of use.